2.2.a Phase 1: The Beginning of the Path
The fundamental prerequisite for the path of prayer is the ability to gather and center ourselves.
It is about letting go of our personal thoughts, emotions, and desires, calming the mind, and leading it into stillness in order to reach a clear state of awareness.
As long as our awareness is filled with constant thinking, interpreting, and reflecting on our life, we cannot open ourselves to God.
With a mind lost in thought, no true spiritual practice is possible.
If we wish to access our higher thinking, feeling, and willing within the spirit-mind, we must first lead the surface-level mind into stillness.
The Common Experience
Most people experience in the initial phase that they continually get lost in thoughts and their awareness is trapped in them.
After a while, they become consciously aware again and remember that they had actually intended to meditate.
This can continue to happen even after weeks and months. Even after many years of meditation, such states of distraction still occur.
This can be very frustrating at first. One might wonder: What is the gain from this? We’ve heard of impressive mystical experiences, yet here we are struggling just to deal with our automatic thoughts.